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Wednesday, February 6, 2013

The Anatta Doctrine is the core of Buddhism!

Individual existence, as well as the whole world, is in absolute reality nothing but a process of ever changing phenomena, which all are included in the five groups of existence: Form, Feeling, Perception, Construction & Consciousness! This process has gone on from time immemorial, before one's birth, & also after one's death it will continue for an endless period of time, as long, and as far, as there are causing conditions feeding it! These five groups of phenomena inno way constitute an ego-entity, enduring personality, same self or inner soulneither when taken separately nor when combined... Neither can any identityor substance be found 'outside' of these all-embracing groups of phenomena... In other words, the five groups of existence are not-self or no-self = anatta, nor do they belong to a self = anattaniya. In view of the impermanence & theconditionality of all existence, a belief in any form of self must be evaluated as an illusion. Why so? Self must stay the 'same' in order to remain a true self. But nothing here or there ever stays the same! All is transient & impermanent!Secondly: Self must be in control to be called a self. But no self can controlcausality... Things arise & cease - despite whatever self - due to conditions... Since nothing stays the 'same' as an identical identity, no thing can ever be self!Since nothing is in full control even of itself or any other, no thing ever can be self! Just as what we designate by the name car, has no existence apart from axle, wheels, motor, chassis, and so forth, or as the word house is only a convenient designation for various materials such as cement, clay, wood etc. put together in a specific way so as to close a portion of space. Apart from these materialsthere is no separate 'house entity' in existence! In exactly same way is that, which we call a 'being' or 'individual', or 'person', or by the name 'I' or 'Me' nothing but an ever changing mixture of physical & mental phenomena, made up of the above mentioned five groups and has as such no real existence in itself. This is, in brief, the anatta doctrine of the Buddha: The teaching that fathomsthat all that exists dead or alive is void (suñña) of a permanent self or substance! It is the fundamental Buddhist doctrine, not found at all in any other religious or philosophical system. To comprehend it fully, not only in a neat abstract andintellectual way, but by constant reference to actual experience, is indeed an indispensable condition for the true understanding of the Buddha-Dhamma and for therealization of its goal: Nibbāna... Yeah!Venerable Nyanatiloka Thera: Born 1922 in Germany. Died 1957 on Ceylon.